U.S. patent number 7,673,805 [Application Number 10/598,762] was granted by the patent office on 2010-03-09 for mini card adapter.
This patent grant is currently assigned to JCB Co., Ltd, Maxell Seiki, Ltd.. Invention is credited to Yoshitaka Matsuda, Masayoshi Onishi, Koichi Ozaki, Yasuaki Wakizaka.
United States Patent |
7,673,805 |
Onishi , et al. |
March 9, 2010 |
Mini card adapter
Abstract
A mini card adapter for removably holding and fixing a mini card
in a secure manner is provided. The mini card adapter holds a mini
card having the same thickness as the standard card and outline
dimensions smaller than those of the standard card. The mini card
comprises a reference wall having the same thickness as the
standard card and a bulging section formed on the top surface of
the reference wall. In the reference wall, a card pocket for is
formed for loading therein the mini card. The land section is
formed in a region corresponding to the emboss section of the
standard card, and a part of the land section bulges over the card
pocket. As a result, an eaves wall for supporting one side of the
mini card is formed. The eaves wall has a boss which fits in a hole
formed in the mini card. A receiving nail for receiving the
periphery of the mini card in corporation with the eaves wall is
provided on the peripheral lower surface of the card pocket.
Inventors: |
Onishi; Masayoshi (Kyoto,
JP), Wakizaka; Yasuaki (Kyoto, JP),
Matsuda; Yoshitaka (Kyoto, JP), Ozaki; Koichi
(Kyoto, JP) |
Assignee: |
JCB Co., Ltd (Tokyo,
JP)
Maxell Seiki, Ltd. (Kyoto, JP)
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Family
ID: |
34975786 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/598,762 |
Filed: |
March 10, 2005 |
PCT
Filed: |
March 10, 2005 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/JP2005/004201 |
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: |
May 11, 2007 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO2005/088530 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
September 22, 2005 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20070278317 A1 |
Dec 6, 2007 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Mar 11, 2004 [JP] |
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2004-068547 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
235/486;
235/489 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06K
19/07 (20130101); G06K 19/07739 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06K
21/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;235/486,489,490,487 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
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|
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5677524 |
October 1997 |
Haghiri-Tehrani |
5831256 |
November 1998 |
De Larminat et al. |
6009315 |
December 1999 |
De Larminat et al. |
6065681 |
May 2000 |
Trueggelmann |
|
Foreign Patent Documents
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8329206 |
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Dec 1996 |
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JP |
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10272872 |
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Oct 1998 |
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JP |
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2002190004 |
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Jul 2002 |
|
JP |
|
Primary Examiner: St. Cyr; Daniel
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Brooks Kushman P.C.
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A mini card adapter for holding a mini card that has the same
thickness as a standard card and smaller external dimensions than
the standard card and loading the mini card into a card reader for
standard cards, said mini card adapter comprising: a reference wall
having the same thickness as the standard card and a land section
formed in a protruding manner on a top surface of the reference
wall, wherein said mini card adapter is characterized in that: a
card pocket extending along at least two adjoining sides of the
mini card is formed in the reference wall; the land section is
formed within a zone Z that corresponds to an embossed region of
the standard card, and at least a portion thereof extends toward
the card pocket to form an eaves wall; an engaging piece for
fitting into a hole is provided in the mini card protrudes from the
eaves wall, which faces the card pocket; and a receiving nail for
receiving the periphery of the mini card in cooperation with the
eaves wall is formed on the bottom surface along the periphery of
the card pocket.
2. The mini card adapter according to claim 1, wherein: the card
pocket formed by cutting off two adjoining sides of the reference
wall is defined by a first side having the same length as a long
side of the mini card and a second side having the same length as a
short side of the mini card; and the land section is formed along
the entire length of the reference wall that includes the first
side.
3. The mini card adapter according to claim 2, wherein: a
rib-shaped receiving nail for receiving the periphery of the mini
card is formed in a protruding manner in both the first side and
the second side; and the receiving nail comprises a nail bottom
surface which is level with the bottom surface of the reference
wall, and a nail top surface which is inclined upward from the
distal end of the receiving nail to the protruding base end
thereof.
4. The mini card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the land
section is formed across the entire width of the zone that
corresponds to the embossed region of a standard card.
5. The mini card adapter according to claim 1, wherein a
re-peelable weak adhesive layer capable of repeating bonding and
peeling is formed on the eaves wall that faces the card pocket.
6. A mini card adapter for holding a mini card that has the same
thickness as a standard card and smaller external dimensions than
the standard card and loading the mini card into a card reader for
standard cards, said mini card adapter comprising: a reference wall
having the same thickness as the standard card and a land section
formed in a protruding manner on a top surface of the reference
wall, wherein said mini card adapter is characterized in that: a
card pocket extending along at least two adjoining sides of the
mini card is formed in the reference wall; the land section is
formed within a zone that corresponds to an embossed region of the
standard card, and at least a portion thereof extends toward the
card pocket to form an eaves wall; an engaging piece for fitting
into a hole provided to the mini card protrudes from the eaves
wall, which faces the card pocket; and a re-peelable weak adhesive
layer capable of repeating bonding and peeling is formed on the
eaves wall that faces the card pocket.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an adapter designed for mounting a
mini card whose exterior dimensions are significantly smaller than
an ATM card or a credit card commonly used today. An object of the
present invention is to enable a card reader for an ATM card or a
credit card to read information recorded on a mini card by mounting
the mini card onto the adapter.
BACKGROUND ART
Adapters designed for mounting a small IC memory device are known
(refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2). The adapter of Patent Document
1 has the same external dimensions as an ATM card, a credit card,
or other commonly used internationally standardized cards
(hereinafter referred to as "a standard card"). The adapter has a
recess for fitting/mounting a small IC memory device in a
designated location. Projections for engaging and holding the small
IC memory device is formed on the inner edge of the recess in a
circular manner. The IC memory device to be mounted comprises a
memory main body shaped as a polygon with five corners obtained by
cutting off a corner of a tetragon, an IC module embedded in the
memory main body, input/output contact terminals disposed on a
surface of the memory main body, and the like. Its surface area is
slightly more than 13% of the surface area of the adapter main
body. The standard card is specified in JISX6301.
In principle, the same basic configuration is adopted in the
adapter of Patent Document 2. However, this configuration is
different in that a storage recess for loading a small memory
device is open on the top surface and peripheral side surface of
the memory main body, and the memory device is insertably mounted
in the storage recess from the side of the lateral opening. The
total thickness of the adapter is therefore considerable when the
memory device is mounted in the adapter.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No.
10-272872 (Paragraph 0011, FIG. 1)
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No.
2002-190004 (Paragraph 0017, FIG. 1)
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
According to the adapter of Patent Document 1, the content of a
small IC memory device can be read by a card reader for a standard
card by the insertable mounting of the IC memory device into the
recess of the adapter. Content can be also written as required.
However, a method is used in this case in which the IC memory
device is insertably mounted in the recess formed on one side of
the adapter. Therefore, there is a risk of serious failure arising
from the IC memory device being caught in or falling out from the
recess when the adapter is pulled into (loaded onto) the card
reader apparatus in cases in which the condition of being mounted
into the recess is incomplete, such as when a portion of the
periphery of the IC memory device is protruding from the opening
edge of the recess.
The memory device mounted in the recess is securely engaged and
held by projections provided to the recess. However, the mounting
is difficult to accomplish because the projections are provided in
a circular manner along the inner periphery of the recess. Removing
the IC memory device from the recess is even more difficult. There
is also a disadvantage in that the adapter may undergo bending
deformation as a result of the opposing projections being pushed
away by the IC memory device mounted in the recess. The IC memory
device can fall out more easily from the recess when an attempt is
made to avoid the bending deformation.
The mini card that is the object of the present invention is
assumed to have the same thickness as the standard card. Therefore,
the mini card inevitably protrudes from the recess by an amount of
the thickness of the bottom wall of the recess, and there is a risk
that the card reader may not be able to accept the adapter when a
method is adopted in which the mini card is insertably mounted in
the recess formed in the adapter as described above.
The extent to which the card protrudes from the recess may be
reduced to a negligible value by minimizing the thickness of the
bottom wall of the recess. However, a new problem arises because of
the fact that the surface area of the mini card is equal to or
greater than half (approximately 57%) of the surface area of the
standard card. It is predicted that when the recess for
accommodating the mini card is formed in the adapter, the entire
adapter can bend more easily and undergo deformation more easily
due to lack of strength. Furthermore, it is difficult to fixedly
hold the mini card securely and firmly in the recess. Another
disadvantage is that the bottom wall of the recess becomes easy to
break.
An object of the invention is to provide a mini card adapter that
can fixedly hold a mini card having the same thickness as a
standard card in a secure manner and allows the mini card to be
mounted and dismounted with ease. Another object of the present
invention is to provide a mini card adapter that solves the problem
of bending or deformation in the adapter while securely preventing
a portion of the mounted mini card from protruding from the
mounting portion, and that allows the card to be loaded into a card
reader as smoothly as a standard card.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a mini
card adapter having a periphery holding structure that engages and
holds a plurality of locations along the periphery of the mini card
in a direction of the thickness of the card, and that restricts
free movement of the mini card by using a hole provided in the card
surface.
Means Used to Solve the Above-Mentioned Problems
A region in which the unique card number, the cardholder's name,
the expiration date, and the like can be formed as embossed
characters (hereinafter referred to as "the embossed region") is
defined on a standard card. A margin commensurate with the bulging
of the embossed region from the card surface is provided in the
loading slot of a card reader. The inventors made the present
invention upon discovering that a mini card having the same
thickness as a standard card can be securely fixed and held in
place by utilizing the thickness of the embossed region.
The mini card adapter of the invention is used to hold a mini card
1 which has the same thickness as a standard card but smaller
external dimensions than the standard card, and to load the card in
a card reader for standard cards. The mini card adapter is provided
with a reference wall 8 having the same thickness as a standard
card, and a land section 9 formed in a bulging manner on the top
surface of the reference wall 8.
A card pocket 10 extending along at least two adjoining sides of
the mini card 1 is formed in the reference wall 8. The land section
9 is formed within a zone Z that corresponds to the embossed region
of the standard card, and at least a portion thereof extends toward
the card pocket 10 and constitutes an eaves wall 15. An engaging
piece 16 for fitting into a hole 3 provided in the mini card 1
protrudes from the eaves wall 15 that faces the card pocket 10. A
receiving nail 17 for receiving the periphery of the mini card 1 in
cooperation with the eaves wall 15 is formed on the bottom surface
of the periphery of the card pocket 10.
The card pocket 10 formed by cutting off the two adjoining sides of
the reference wall 8 is defined by a first side 11 having the same
length as a long side of the mini card 1, and a second side 12
having the same length as a short side of the mini card 1. The land
section 9 is formed along the entire length of the reference wall 8
that includes the first side 11.
The rib-shaped receiving nail 17 for receiving the periphery of the
mini card 1 is formed in a protruding manner both on the first side
11 and on the second side 12. The receiving nail 17 is provided
with a nail bottom surface 17a which is level with the bottom
surface of the reference wall 8, and a nail top surface 17b which
is inclined upward in the direction away from the distal end of the
receiving nail 17 toward the protruding base end.
The land section 9 can be formed across the entire width of the
zone Z that corresponds to the embossed region of the standard
card.
The mini card adapter of the invention is an adapter for holding a
mini card 1 having the same thickness as a standard card but
smaller external dimensions than the standard card, and loading the
mini card into a card reader for standard cards, the mini card
adapter comprising a reference wall 8 having the same thickness as
the standard card, and a land section 9 formed in a bulging manner
on a top surface of the reference wall 8; wherein the mini card
adapter is characterized in that a card pocket 10 extending along
at least two adjoining sides of the mini card 1 is formed in the
reference wall 8; wherein the land section 9 is formed within a
zone Z that corresponds to an embossed region of the standard card,
and at least a portion thereof overhangs toward the card pocket 10
and constitutes an eaves wall 15; wherein an engaging piece 16 for
fitting into a hole 3 provided in the mini card 1 protrudes from
the eaves wall 15 that faces the card pocket 10; and wherein a
re-peelable weak adhesive layer 20 capable of repeating bonding and
peeling is formed on the eaves wall 15 that faces the card pocket
10.
EFFECT OF THE INVENTION
In the mini card adapter of the present invention, a card pocket 10
for mounting a mini card 1 in a reference wall 8 having the same
thickness as a standard card is formed, and an eaves wall 15
extending toward the card pocket 10 in formed by forming a land
section 9 in a bulging manner on the top surface of the reference
wall 8. Based on this, a arrangement is adopted in which an
engaging piece 16 provided in the eaves wall 15 is fitted into a
hole 3 in the mini card 1 to restrict the movement of the mini card
1 in the planar directions of the card, and the card surface of the
mini card 1 along the periphery thereof is received by the eaves
wall 15. Another feature of this arrangement is that a receiving
nail 17 is provided to the bottom surface of the card pocket 10
along the periphery, the periphery of the mini card 1 can be
received both by the eaves wall 15 and by the receiving nail 17,
and the separation of the mini card 1 from the eaves wall 15 can be
restricted.
In other words, free movement of the mini card 1 is restricted by
using the hole 3 provided in the card surface, and a plurality of
locations along the periphery of the mini card 1 are engaged and
held by the eaves wall 15 and the receiving nail 17 in the
thickness direction of the card. Accordingly, the mini card 1
mounted in the card pocket 10 can be held in a secure manner, and
the mounting of the mini card 1 is simplified compared to
conventional methods in which an IC memory device is inserted into
a recess. The mini card 1 can also be easily separated from the
card pocket 10 by grasping the exposed portion of the mini card 1
adjacent to the reference wall 8.
The land section 9 is formed in a bulging manner within a zone Z
that corresponds to the embossed region of the standard card.
Therefore, the adapter with the mounted mini card 1 can be easily
inserted and loaded into a loading slot of a card reader for
standard cards. This is because a margin that corresponds to the
embossed region of the standard card is provided in the card
reader, and the land section 9 can travel back and forth within the
above-mentioned margin.
When the card pocket 10 is defined by the first side 11 having the
same length as the long side of the mini card 1 and the second side
12 having the same length as the short side of the mini card 1, the
outline of the card adapter in the state in which the mini card 1
is mounted in the card pocket 10 can substantially match the
external shape of a standard card. Therefore, the adapter can be
easily inserted into the loading slot of the card reader. When the
land section 9 is formed along the entire length of the reference
wall 8 that includes the first side 11, the thickness of the land
section 9 adds to the structural strength of the reference wall 8
in proportion to the added thickness of the land section 9.
Especially, the bending strength of the card surface that includes
the first side 11 can be increased.
When the rib-shaped receiving nail 17 for receiving the periphery
of the mini card 1 is formed in a protruding manner on both the
first side 11 and the second side 12, the rib-shaped receiving nail
17 engages and supports two adjoining sides of the mini card 1, and
the mini card 1 mounted in the card pocket 10 can be fixed and held
in place more securely. When the nail top surface 17b that is
inclined upward away from the distal end toward the protruding base
end is formed in the receiving nail 17, the periphery of the mini
card 1 can be guided in by the nail top surface 17b so that the
mini card 1 can be mounted in the card pocket 10 more easily. The
card periphery can be securely engaged and held in place even if
the thickness of the mini card 1 is nonuniform. This is because the
periphery of the mini card 1 is received by the nail top surface
17b inclined at a slant.
When the land section 9 is formed across the entire width of the
zone Z that corresponds to the embossed region of a standard card,
the reference wall 8 is reinforced by the land section 9, and the
structural strength of the card adapter provided with the
large-surface card pocket 10 increases and the rigidity
improves.
When the weak adhesive layer 20 is formed on the eaves wall 15 that
faces the card pocket 10, the state in which the mini card 1 is
mounted in the card pocket 10 can be maintained by the adhesion of
the weak adhesive layer 20 in addition to the holding action of the
eaves wall 15, the engaging piece 16, and the receiving nail 17 so
that the mini card 1 can be fixed and held more firmly.
According to the mini card adapter recited in claim 6, a mini card
1 can be quickly and easily mounted in or dismounted from the card
adapter by using a weak adhesive layer 20 formed on an eaves wall
15.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a mini card adapter in a state in which a
mini card is mounted;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the mini card and the
mini card adapter;
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the mini card adapter;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line A-A in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view along line B-B in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a bottom view of another example of the mini card
adapter; and
FIG. 7 is a partial bottom view of the boss of another example.
DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS
1: Mini Card
3: Hole
8: Reference Wall
9: Land section
10: Card Pocket
11: First Side
12: Second Side
15: Eaves Wall
16: Engaging Piece
17: Receiving Nail
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIGS. 1 to 5 show an example of a mini card adapter according to
the present invention. In FIG. 2, the mini card 1 to be mounted has
the same thickness as a standard card, and smaller external
dimensions than the standard card. Specifically, the mini card is
formed in a rectangular shape having a long side of 66 mm, and a
short side of 40 mm and four rounded corners.
An IC chip (not shown) is embedded in the mini card 1, and
input/output contact terminals 2 are exposed from one side of the
top surface. A circular hole 3 for connecting to a key ring is
formed through a corner portion in proximity to the contact
terminals 2. A magnetic stripe 4 is formed on the bottom surface of
the card.
In FIGS. 1 and 2, the mini card adapter is an injection molded
article that is made of a hard plastic and comprises an L-shaped,
as seen in plan view, reference wall 8 having the same thickness as
a standard card, and a land section 9 formed in a bulging manner on
a top surface of the reference wall 8. The wall and the land
section are integrated with each other. A card pocket 10 for
accommodating the mini card 1 is formed in the reference wall
8.
The card pocket 10 is formed by cutting off two adjoining sides of
the reference wall 8. The card pocket 10 comprises a first side 11
having the same length as a long side of the mini card 1 and a
second side 12 having the same length as a short side of the mini
card 1. The plan view of the mini card adapter that includes the
mini card 1 mounted in the card pocket 10 has substantially the
same shape and size as the plan view of the standard card.
The land section 9 is formed within a zone Z that corresponds to an
embossed region of a standard card. More specifically, the embossed
region of the standard card is formed in one half of the card
surface in the direction (shown by arrow M in FIG. 1) in which the
card is inserted into the card reader. The land section 9 is formed
in a bulging manner in a transversely extending rectangular shape
while occupying the entire zone Z in the same location and at the
same width as the embossed region.
The land section 9 is formed along the entire longitudinal length
of the reference wall 8 that includes the first side 11 in order to
reinforce the reference wall 8. The bulging of the land section 9
is equal to or is slightly less than the protrusion height of the
embossed characters formed in the embossed region of the standard
card. In this example, when the thickness of the reference wall 8
is 0.87 mm, the extent to which the land section 9 bulges from the
reference wall 8 is set to be 0.43 mm. A stepped part 9a is formed
along the long side of the reference wall 8 on one side of the land
section 9. The term "stepped part 9a" merely refers to one of the
borders of the embossed region.
As described above, the land section 9 is formed so as to occupy
the entire zone Z, and the long side thereof extends from the first
side 11 toward the card pocket 10 to form an eaves wall 15. This
eaves wall 15 serves to receive one side of the top surface of the
mini card 1 mounted in the card pocket 10 and to position the mini
card 10 in a thickness direction. In order to securely hold and fix
the mini card 1 mounted in the card pocket 10, the first side 11,
the second side 12, and the eaves wall 15 have a card capturing
structure.
As described above, the hole 3 for attaching a key ring is formed
in the mini card 1. A boss (an engaging piece) 16 that fits into
the hole 3 and restricts the free movement of the mini card 1 in
the planar directions of the card protrudes downward from the eaves
wall 15 that faces the card pocket 10. The hole 3 and the boss 16
can mate with and part from each other. The diameters of these are
set so that these are held steady against each other. The extent to
which the boss 16 protrudes from the eaves wall 15 is set to 0.87
mm.
As a card capturing structure that is different from the boss 16, a
receiving nail 17 for receiving the periphery of the mini card 1 in
cooperation with the eaves wall 15 is formed on the bottom surface
of the periphery of the card pocket 10. Specifically, long
rib-shaped receiving nails 17, 17 for receiving the periphery of
the mini card 1 are formed in a protruding manner in the middle
parts of the first side 11 and the second side 12 of the card
pocket 10, as shown in FIG. 3.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each of the receiving nails 17 comprises
a nail bottom surface 17a which is level with the bottom surface of
the reference wall 8 and a nail top surface 17b which is inclined
upward from the distal end to the base of the receiving nail 17
toward the protruding base end. The nail top surface 17b holds the
periphery of the mini card 1 and prevents the long side and the
short side of the mini card 1 from escaping from the card pocket 10
in the thickness direction of the card.
When the nail top surface 17b is formed as a slanted surface
upwardly inclined toward the protruding base end, the receiving
nail 17 can securely engage and capture the periphery of the mini
card even if there is a slight variance in the thickness of the
mini card 1. The receiving nail 17 that has engaged and captured
the periphery of the mini card 1 undergoes slight elastic
deformation toward the nail bottom surface 17a. However, the extent
of the deformation is within the thickness tolerance of the
standard card.
When the mini card 1 is mounted in the card adapter, the entire
card adapter is turned upside down; the long side of the mini card
1, which is similarly turned upside down, is aligned with the first
side 11 of the card pocket 10; the boss 16 is fitted into the hole
3; and the periphery of the card is inserted between the eaves wall
15 and the receiving nail 17.
Furthermore, the short side of the mini card 1 is aligned with the
second side 21, pushed to ride over the receiving nail 17 of the
second side 12, and caused to engage with the receiving nail 17. In
this mounted state, the contact terminals 2 are exposed further
outside beyond the distal end of the eaves wall 15, allowing
information signals to be easily exchanged with the card
reader.
Some card readers read recorded signals on the magnetic stripe 4. A
procedure that is the reverse of the above-described procedure is
followed when the mini card 1 is removed from the card pocket 10.
In this case, the mini card 1 can be easily separated by twisting
the outer periphery of the mini card 1 and releasing the card from
the receiving nail 17 of the second side 12.
In the mounted state of the card as described above, the long side
and the short side of the mini card 1 are each held by the eaves
wall 15 and the receiving nails 17, and the free movement of the
mini card in the thickness direction is restricted. The free
movement of the mini card in the planar directions of the card is
also restricted by the boss 16. As a result, the mini card 1 does
not fall out from the card pocket 10. Inserting the card adapter in
this state into the loading slot of the card reader for standard
cards allows information signals stored on the mini card 1 to be
read or written.
The card adapter of the present example is thus characterized in
that the mini card 1 mounted in the card pocket 10 is engaged and
held by the boss 16 and the periphery of the card is held and fixed
by the eaves wall 15 and the receiving nails 17.
In FIGS. 4 and 5, the long and short sides of the mini card 1
mounted in the card pocket 10 are received along the peripheries
thereof by the intermediate part of the nail top surface 17b of the
receiving nail 17, with a small gap from the first side 11 and the
second side 12. In other words, the long and short sides of the
mini card 1 along the outer periphery protrude from the outer edge
of the reference wall 8 adjacent to the card pocket 10 by a
dimension commensurate with the aforementioned gaps. However, these
protrusions are within the tolerances of the external dimensions of
the standard card. Therefore, the card adapter in which the mini
card 1 is mounted can be easily inserted and loaded into the
loading slot of the card reader.
FIG. 6 shows another example related to the card adapter of the
invention. In this example, the receiving nails 17 in the
above-described example are omitted, and a re-peelable weak
adhesive layer 20 is instead formed on the bottom surface of the
eaves wall 15. The weak adhesive is composed of a urethane
adhesive, for example, and the weak adhesive allows repetitive
bonding and peeling. When the receiving nails 17 are thus omitted,
the mini card 1 can be easily mounted in the card pocket 10 merely
by pressing the card surface against the weak adhesive layer 20
while the hole 3 is engaged with the boss 16 and its long side is
aligned with the first side 11 of the card pocket 10. The mini card
1 can be also easily removed.
When the mini card 1 is mounted in the card pocket 10, the long and
short sides thereof are each bonded to the first side 11 and the
second side 12. Such bonding makes it possible to prevent
situations in which the long and short sides of the mini card 1
along the outer periphery extend from an imaginary outer edge of
the cut-off long and short sides of the reference wall 8, and
allows the outline of the card adapter that includes the mini card
1 to match the outline of a standard card. Because other aspects
are the same as in the foregoing example, the same numerical
symbols are assigned to the same components, and a description
thereof is omitted. The same applies to the following examples.
FIGS. 7(a) to 7(c) show other examples related to the boss 16. In
FIG. 7(a), the boss 16 is divided by three slits 22 disposed at
regular intervals. Each of the divided cylindrical walls can
elastically deform in the radial direction toward the center. When
the divided walls are capable of elastic deformation in this
fashion, the elasticity of the partial cylindrical walls allows the
hole 3 to be engaged and held steady in a state in which the boss
16 is fitted into the circular hole 3. Similarly, the boss 16 is
divided by four slits 22 disposed at regular intervals in FIG.
7(b), and the boss 16 is divided by eight slits 22 disposed at
regular intervals in FIG. 7(c).
In addition to the examples described above, a weak adhesive layer
20 similar to FIG. 6 can be formed on the bottom surface of the
eaves wall 15 of the mini card adapter described with reference to
FIGS. 1 to 5 so that the mini card 1 can be fixed and held more
securely. In the above example, two adjoining sides of the
reference wall 8 are cut off to form the card pocket 10, but it is
also possible to cut off the reference wall 8 in a U shape to form
the card pocket 10, for example.
The land section 9 does not have to be formed across the entire
width of the zone Z that corresponds to the embossed region of the
standard card as long as the section 9 is formed in an area which
covers at least the eaves wall 15 and the first side 11. In other
words, the outline of the land section 9 does not have to be
rectangular as long as the section 9 includes at least the eaves
wall 15 in the zone Z that corresponds to the embossed region.
The receiving nail 17 does not have to have a continued rib shape,
and a plurality of nails can be disposed in a linear sequence. The
first side 11 of the card pocket 10 can be made shorter than the
long side of the mini card 1. The engaging piece 16 does not have
to be a cylindrical boss and may be a projection that can fit into
the hole 3.
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